Project Catch-Up

Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.-- Mark Twain

I probably spend far too long thing about folks who aren't like me than about folks who are. What I mean to say is: when I am in the throes of creating, making, doing, I often drift off thinking about how there are some people who are desperately afraid of trying to make things. It's an odd habit, and probably one I should work on, but I think it comes from a place of wanting other people who share in the joy of making things.

It's been a rough year, no doubt about it. But the thing that has been my constant, my north star, my wayfinder has been to continue to make things. Even on the days when I have been at my most numb, my most bereft, my most tired... my hands reach for something to do.

I've been looking through my photos over the last few months and I realized I hadn't shared a lot of what i was doing. So, here's a catch-up for you:

In the days following my mother's passing, I spent a lot of time in my family home, sorting through things, cleaning, daydreaming, grieving... one day, my brother handed me a shopping bag full of yarn that my mother had used to make some arm covers for the couch. "I don't know if you want this," he said. I pulled out some chenille yarn and sat with it for a while, then I dug through the bag and found a crochet hook. So I started making something. It's supposed to be a cat, but I'd be ok if you thought it was a hamster:

I'm so rarely in Winnipeg during the summer, so I usually don't get the opportunity to visit the St. Norbert Market. My brother took me there one Saturday and I enjoyed walking around, buying fresh veggies, drinking fresh lemonade, and looking at all of the stalls:

I happened across a stall selling locally made yarn, and seeing as I was in full retail therapy-mode, I picked up a skein. It's from Ferm Fiola Farm (est 1922) and this is a skein of Romney lambswool from a sheep named Pompom. That's a picture of her on the label. I love knowing who and from where it came from:

The only problem was that I had no knitting needles with me, only the large crochet hooks my mom preferred to use. On the way home from the market, I realized we were in the neighbourhood of Wolseley Wool, so I asked my brother to stop so I could buy some needles. When I walked in, the person behind the till said, "There's some discounted yarn in the next room by the window, if you want to have a look." And of course I did. I went in and found this Cascade BFL and plucked out some coordinating colours:

I wound each skein by hand into balls and then set about trying to figure out what to make with them. It took me longer to finish this project than normal: I was working through lagging energy and then had a trip to Europe in-between. But this is what I came up with:

It's a sweater tee that I adapted from Amy van de Laar's Beeswax Hat. I often save hat patterns and use the stitch pattern to make a sweater. I was very pleased with the result, even if it is a little short for me. I blocked it hard with lots of conditioner to give it a stretch, so that helped. I even tried to get a little fancy with the colour changes so that there wouldn't be a hard line whenever I switched to a new colour:

I also realized that I hadn't shared a weaving/sewing project that I finished right before the summer. I think my rationale was that I was going to wait until the cooler weather because a wool garment is no fun to model in the heat of June. Here we are in November, and I'm not really in the mood for modelling it, but I am so surprised by how much I like this thing. I think that it has helped that I've been sewing a lot more: it allowed me to feel comfortable cutting into and sewing my finished woven fabric. Whilst I was making it up, I thought it would be one of those "learning projects," where I would finish it and not really like it and just tuck it away and learn from it. Turns out, I really love this thing (what is it? a sleeveless cardigan? a belted vest?). It looks great with black trousers and a long sleeved black tshirt, sort of kimono-style:

Speaking of sewing: I decided to alter the necklines of a couple of tshirts that have been living in my drawer over the past year. I didn't really like wearing them because the necklines were too high and I felt really uncomfortable wearing them. I've done a few neckline alterations in the past with varying success, but I figured I'd give it another go since I really didn't have anything to lose. This is one of the tshirts before I started the alteration:

I cut off the ribbed neckline just under the existing seam, because I knew that the new seam allowance would make the neckline even deeper:

And voila: new cool yellow neckline! I had the yellow ribbing in the stash, so I figured I'd go with it because matching grey is remarkably more difficult at the fabric store than you might think:

And I did the same with another tshirt by using some lighter grey terry knit fabric as the new neckline (I forgot to take the before photo):

They're great tshirts to wear on the weekend, and much more relaxing to wear now that they're not cutting into my neck:

What else... I did a quick remake of the Mesa Dress by Seamwork in a knit fabric I got on sale at the fabric store. I've made it before, and it's a relatively simple dress to make. I made the sleeves longer, but the hem is shorter than I would like. I also forgot how deep and fiddly the neckline is, so I made marks on the pattern to change that the next time around, and I also marked the pattern at the hemline to make it longer next time. Still, I think it'll get some use over the winter with some black tights and boots:

And since I was feeling more confident on the sewing machine, I also bought some tweed fabric in the clearance section and made this Halloween costume for Seymour. Say hello to Sherlock Bones:

I'd been daydreaming about making the coat ever since I brought the hat home from our last holiday. I looked at a bunch of patterns online, but eventually decided to wing it by using elements from one of his sweaters:

I got the hat to stay on by pinning the back brim to his collar, so with the existing chin strap, he couldn't shake it off. He actually really liked wearing it: as soon as I put it on, he ran straight to the door because it just feels like another coat to him... or maybe he was off to solve mysteries...

It's even lined on the inside and has a hole for his harness loops to come through the back. Go me.

I also whipped up some berets out of some craft felt for some of the folks at work for Halloween because we decided we'd dress up as mimes. I was pleasantly surprised at how well they turned out!

So here we are in November. I'm feeling torn about what to work on now. Normally, I'd be thinking about what kinds of Christmas cards I might make. I also have an upcoming baby shower for which I would normally be making gifts. But really, all I want to do right now is settle into some knitting for me. I have a cardigan in in some lovely, squishy DK weight yarn from Ancient Arts that I'm enjoying knitting. And in the midst of my hectic, anxious, busy brain, knitting it feels like sitting in a comfortable chair. I'm just going to enjoy it for now and see how it goes.

Enjoy your week. Thanks for coming to visit.